Married couples wanting to separate may prefer mediation over the
more detailed legal process of divorce for many reasons. Mediation
varies widely, it is relatively brief, and focuses on the task of
reaching settlement rather than improving adjustment. (Scott
Roper/Corbis)
and custody arrangements. Because mediation is
more cooperative, parents should show higher levels
of compliance. Research supports this notion: In
practically all studies, parents who used mediation re-
ported fewer difficulties with compliance.
How Mediation Affects Parents and
Children
The negative psychological effects of divorce on
parents and children may be directly or indirectly a
function of the adversarial approach, which often
maintains and even fuels hostility between divorcing
parents. Mediation should provide psychological
benefits for both parents and children, such as de-
creasing bitterness and tension and increasing com-
munication between the parents. The research
findings are not completely clear, however. While
some studies indicate that couples in mediation show
greater cooperation and improved interpersonal re-
lationships after the divorce settlement, some studies
have found no consistent differences in psychological
adjustment that could be attributed to the mediation
itself. These inconsistent findings may be due to pre-
existing differences between the mediation and litiga-
tion groups. Other studies found that the couples who
had mediation were more satisfied with the divorce
settlement and reported doing much better up to one
year following the settlement.
Mothers and fathers appear to differ in their sat-
isfaction with mediated settlements. These differ-
ences, however, may be related to the type of custody
presumption applicable in the states where the re-
search was done and differences in custody outcomes
between mediation and litigation. Generally, litiga-
tion is more likely to result in the award of sole custo-
dy to the mother. In states where the primary
presumption of custody favors the mother in a sole
custody arrangement, mothers tended to be more sat-
isfied with their settlements than fathers. Mediation
tends to produce more joint legal custody agree-
ments, and in those states where the custody pre-
sumption favored sole mother custody, fathers who
mediated were more satisfied than those who litigat-
ed. But in states where the custody presumption fa-
vored joint legal custody, both fathers and mothers
who mediated were more satisfied than those who
went to court.
Compared to litigation, mediated settlements
also resulted in both parents maintaining greater in-
volvement with their children. In one long-term
study, nine years after the initial divorce settlement,
couples who used mediation reported more contact
with each other than those whose settlements were lit-
igated. As well, both parents were more involved in
their children’s lives and reported more frequent
communication with the other spouse about the child
or children.
It is logical to presume that mediation will posi-
tively influence children’s adjustment, by improving
parental cooperation and communication and main-
taining contact between the noncustodial parent and
the children. Studies of the effects of divorce on chil-
dren’s adjustment strongly support the positive ef-
fects of increased parental cooperation and decreased
conflict in the post-divorce period. For mediation,
however, the research is surprisingly sparse. Studies
have failed to show significant improvements for chil-
dren as a result of the parents’ mediation. This lack
of empirical support parallels the mixed evidence on
the benefits of mediation for the parents’ adjustment.
The critical question is whether one should ex-
pect such enduring effects on children and parents.
The benefits of mediation appear to occur primarily
in the short term by improving compliance, reducing
relitigation, and decreasing the time required for the
couple to reach a settlement. While mediation has sig-
nificant benefits over litigation, the research evidence
is far from conclusive, particularly concerning the254 MEDIATION